Sarah Palin visits 'SNL': Is this what we were waiting for?

Sarah Palin's stop by Saturday Night Live unfolded the way many politicians' visits there do, with Palin relagated to a minimum of lines while the rest of the cast -- and a few inspired guest stars -- brought the funny all around her.

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And while Fey-as-Palin and the real-life Palin never actually met on camera, it seems odd that Fey came across as much more Palin-ey than the Governor herself. Gone was the folksy swagger and sayings we see Palin use on the stump -- excepting a quick 'you betcha' at the end of Weekend Update -- with much of her bits centered on refusing to do anything funny.

Of course, the appearance brought record ratings for SNL, which drew its largest viewership in 14 years last night -- eventually expected to be about 14-million viewers.

Still, it was inspired fun watching Mark Wahlberg looking to school Andy Samberg after his Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals skit two weeks ago, only to re-enact the skit himself. And Alec Baldwin's mistaking Palin for Fey produced one of the evening's best lines: "I MUST tell you this...you're way hotter in person."

But the prize goes to increasingly valuable player Amy Poehler -- what are these guys going to do when the election is over and Poehler has her baby? -- who takes over doing a rap the show prepared for Palin when the Alaska governor decides not to perform it. Hard as it is to spoof an election absurd as this one -- Thursday's sketch on the debate felt like half the dialogue was ripped stright from the transcript -- this bit pulls it off, simultenously enshrining Poehler in the pantheon of legendary Update performers.

Check it here:

(A Beat kicks in)

"MY NAME IS SARAH PALIN, YOU ALL KNOW ME,VICE-PREZZY NOMINEE OF THE GOP,GONNA NEED YOUR VOTE IN THE NEXT ELECTION,CAN I GET A WHAT-WHAT FROM THE SENIOR SECTION,MCCAIN GOT EXPERIENCE,MCCAIN GOT STYLE,BUT DON'T LET HIM FREAK YOU OUT,WHEN HE TRIES TO SMILE,CUZ THAT SMILE BE CREEPY,BUT WHEN I'M V.P.,ALL THE LEADERS IN THE WORLD GONNA FINALLY MEET ME,